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Did the Who Inspire Benedict Cumberbatch’s The Thing With Feathers? Read on as Its Director Divulges
The Thing with Feathers is a recent film featuring Benedict Cumberbatch. Discover whether this movie draws inspiration from the iconic British rock band, The Who.
Benedict Cumberbatch can be seen in his latest feature, The Thing with Feathers, which is based on a book but heavily inspired by The Who. To be precise, the director recently revealed that one of the band's albums influenced him to shoot a particular sequence.
"There's a really cool picture of The Who on the cover of The Kids Are Alright where they're wrapped in the Union Jack," director Dylan Southern revealed during a post-screening Q&A at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
The film premiered at the aforementioned festival on Saturday night.
The scene in question happens when the father, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, is followed by a black crow. Cumberbatch, known for The Power of the Dog, plays a widower struggling to cope with raising his two sons after the sudden death of his wife.
The father’s grief manifests as a gigantic crow that begins to stalk him. The film portrays the crow as both a frightening specter and a protector. As the movie progresses, there’s a poignant scene where the crow is seated in the center of a sofa, with Benedict Cumberbatch on one side and his two sons on the other.
They are all shown wrapped in the black wings of the crow. This scene is a direct reference to a moment in Max Porter's novella. However, it also serves as a tribute from Southern to the iconic British rock band.
Revealing why he joined the movie, Benedict Cumberbatch mentioned that the book affected him profoundly, adding that the director’s pitch intrigued him even more. Noting that his role is a deeply intimidating one, Cumberbatch described the movie as existing in a "different reality."
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